MAGICAL. There is no better word for what happened today in the woods!  We began in the classroom making a map of the wooded area as a group, recalling where certain features were from our previous short trips. We revisited our conversations from a few weeks ago about maps as tools and what it meant to be an explorer. We made a plan as a group with four steps: 1) Decide on a “camp/ home base” 2) Decide on our boundaries 3) Decide on a group call.

 

We hiked down he trail and found ourselves once again drawn to the brook. I wish I had taken more pictures, but we were too immersed in exploration and play! Students stomped through the brook, climbed over logs, hiked up hills and over rocks, collected sticks and began plans for building wigwams and shelters, worked together to create garland “fences,”  started fairy houses, made pretend beds, crafted poles for “fishing”……. the list goes on!  Today we were in the woods for about an hour and a half and there was so much amazing creativity and teamwork that sprang naturally from the kids and the forest.

 

By the end of today we settled on a home base, and the kids quickly got to work marking off the circle area with garland created with yarn and leaves.  We decided upon a “wolf call” and we practiced a teacher giving a “howl” and the wolf pups calling back and making their way to the “den” home base.  We are eager to come back to this space on Friday and continue the work we started today. They have many many ideas for the home base!  Moving forward, we will aim to be outside in the woods every Friday after lunch until PE (PE is 1:25-2:10, outside when weather permitting) and then make our way back to the school building to regroup before dismissal.  Forest Fridays are officially underway!

Check out this short video!  IMG_0036

With so many colorful leaves on the ground, we have been finding different creative ways to explore with leaves and natural objects.  We have sorted leaves by color, size, shape, and texture. We have practiced counting what we find, and making observations about same and different. We look closely at leaves and bark for clues as to what type of trees may be near by.  “Its like looking at the faces in PATHS”  (great connection class!) We have crafted crowns, painted leaves, and made picture creations with what we have found.  Some prepared templates offered us a starting point, and students quickly came up with their own creations as well. With a bit of thread offered in the mix, students crafted fences and garland.  Our leaves have also made for fun play with raking, piling, and jumping! “Let’s pretend to be squirrels!”  “I think squirrels use leaves for nests”  I wonder what other creatures use the leaves?  Sounds like another investigation! As students continue to immerse themselves in trees and leaves, I am excited to see them asking questions, working together, problem solving, persisting, creating, and learning from each other. Our play also strengthens our fine and gross motor skills and the connections between people, nature, animals, and seasons.

Last Friday students came home with their first book! We have been looking at and reading a variety of books in class every day! We now know who an author and illustrator are, and now know we can be authors and illustrators of our own books too!  We began by looking at non-fiction books and how they share with readers what they know about.  We thought about all of things that we know about it, and this discussion lead to book creations with many of things we know!

 

Each page of our books tells readers about something we know about.  We looked at how books use pictures and words to help the reader understand what we are sharing.  Each of our pages includes a picture too! We also notice how book covers also give clues at what a book is about and who wrote it, so we added covers with these features too!  Books also have letters, words, and sentences.  We talked about how we are still learning theses things, but that we can still create books with imaginative writing!  We worked together to come up with strategies we may use:  scribble writing, writing any letters we know, using the letters in our names, using the letters of the week, using pictures on the writing lines, listening to the sounds and if we know the letters…. they came up with some great ideas!  They were SOOOO proud of their finished pieces- as they should be!  Our books were all unique too, with some having many pages, some having a few, and everyone choosing their own way to write and draw.   We will continue working on being book creators each Thursday.  When confidence and curiosity continue to grow, their writing will continue to blossom as we go through he year!  Exciting stuff to celebrate!

 

Today we listened to storyteller Danny English from We Be Kids telling his original tale “The Happiness Tree.”   Danny states “This story encourages children and adults to explore the natural world, to venture into the outdoors in search of those special trees and mesmeric places that fill our hearts and souls with joy and experience the pleasure and happiness that comes from being immersed in the wonder of nature.”  This story also features a “glitter worm,” that the little girl found under a rock.   I have included the video telling here if you’d like to revisit the story at home!

The Happiness Tree Storyteller

We then ventured into the woods to look for woodland treasures from happiness trees to create our own happiness crowns. We also turned over several logs and rocks in hopes of spotting a glitter worm! Alas, we did not discover any today, but we did discover lots of other fascinating living things underneath objects!

 

From the storyteller:

“Somebody once told me the meaning of the happiness tree is to always be happy, but the real meaning of the happiness tree is to recognize that some days we are sad, and that’s okay; and some days we are happy , and that’s okay too. But, what’s really important is that we know how to move from sadness to happiness, and like the young girl in this story a trip into the forest can always help”

 

What do you find in the forest that brings you happiness?

Hello Families! WooHoo! The blog space is up and running once again!  I have so much to catch up on… where do we start!

The woods right where we live have so much to offer!  Living in New England we have the pleasure of watching the “magic” that happens as photosynthesis slows down for many trees, the green in leaves begins to fade, and the brilliant yellows, oranges, and red hues that have been there all along begin to shine through.  Trees have much to tell us by looking closely at their bark, branches, leaves, and seeds.  We have been learning about the four seasons in a year, and watching the changes that happen in our woods as the temperatures become colder.  We have tracking the temp each day in our class using a color coded thermometer.  You may hear your child talking about if it was a “green” day or a “yellow” day, or even eagerly waiting for a colder “blue” day!  Here is a craft project we worked on in late September in anticipation of the leaves changing colors. This activity is also an excellent fine motor craft as we used our “pinching fingers,” hand-eye-coordination, and patience, and creativity!

 

Exploring number collections, making personal connections to numbers, and having fun with using different materials for counting. We discovered that shiny items and pompoms are of most interest to us! We love how they look and feel!  More explorations with shiny things coming right up!

Working together as a team to problem solve! Puzzles are great for spacial awareness, pattern recognition, matching, trial and error, visual discrimination, and perseverance! Our letter B balloon bean bags make a great sensory fidget tool, encourage group play, hand eye coordination to make and later throw at objects, strengthening a pinch grip selecting all those beans, and recognizing words that start with the letter Bb sound as we brainstormed together. And they are just FUN!

A few more class happenings, including visiting a wigwam, creating art for our bulletin boards, learning to make lunch selections, and practicing the letters in our names with beautiful sparkling jewels.  We also discussed what it means to be an explorer, looked at maps, a globe, a compass, and a telescope.  What do you look for when your are exploring? Special shout out to Finn too, who made a beautiful wooden person for each of his classmates! Thank you Finn!